IntroductionZvox
Audio may sound like a new brand name, but President Tom Hannaher is no
stranger to the high fidelity electronics industry. Tom has worked at
Advent, with such industry pioneers such as Henry Kloss, the inventor
of projection television and high fidelity cassette decks. Later,
Hannaher went on to run the marketing of Cambridge Soundworks before
eventually transferring his energy to Zvox. What this impressive resume
boils down to is that Hannaher knows both the audio and visual side of
the home theater business. Even better news is that Hannaher surrounds
himself with talent that can create an incredible-sounding miniature
amplifier/speaker system that can be easily set up and enjoyed. The
Zvox Mini can provide amply rich sound in virtually any room, with the
simplest of connections and fine-tuning, for a modest $199.

What is so special about the Zvox, you ask? The Zvox is a simple
preamp, amplifier and speaker array that together emulates a complete
5.1 surround sound system. Fascinatingly, this is all contained within
the confines of a small 13-inch wide by 10-inch deep cabinet. Standing
a mere three-and-one-third inches tall, this all-in-one surround system
can easily rest on top of a television. The medium-density fiberboard
cabinet is rectangular in shape with an outwardly curved front face.
This face houses the front three drivers, which are shielded by an
aluminum grille. The infrared remote sensor and two knobs that control
the volume and size of the soundstage (termed “PhaseCue”) are also
featured on the front of the unit. Moving to the stern of this ship,
you will find a power switch, subwoofer port, subwoofer volume control
and audio inputs.

The cabinet features an array of three two-and-a-half-inch front
speakers. These drivers are accompanied by a hidden four-by-six-inch
woofer, which has a port and separate volume control located on the
back of the unit. The metal back of the Zvox not only features the
power and input connections, but also acts as a heat sink for its
built-in amplifier. The all-inclusive cabinet is very light at only
seven pounds, but do not forget the weight of the external power
supply, which is an additional three pounds. Your choices of finishes
are black or silver rubbery-feeling paint or smooth-feeling high-gloss
white paint.

The Zvox gains special attention by allowing the user to adjust the
perceived size of the soundstage by using the PhaseCue knob on the
front of the unit. At the low extreme (the far left position), the
soundstage is compact and focused towards the middle of the cabinet. As
the knob is adjusted clockwise, the soundstage increases and eventually
extends several feet to either side of the cabinet. This widening of
the soundstage is achieved by taking the left and right signals from
the selected input and mixing them into three signals: left plus right,
left minus right, and bass. This mix of both in-phase and out-of phase
signals is amplified, then fed into the four speakers. The PhaseCue
knob controls the relative mix of these signals and thus the size of
the soundstage.

Another great asset of the Zvox is its ability to generate powerful and
full-range sound with a small cabinet. This is done by creating a
back-connecting port between the otherwise sealed left and right
speaker enclosures. This back channel routes low-frequency pressures
from each of the two speakers together and, as a result, eliminates any
undesirable acoustic rigidness in the suspension of the speakers. This
Infinite Compliance technology that I just described above can yield a
much more impressive sense of power than is traditionally possible with
a cabinet of such petite proportions.

Set-up
I decided to hook up the Zvox in a small living room on top of my NAD
515 CD player, which I placed in the center of the room on a coffee
table. I then rested my 60GB Video iPod on top of the Zvox. Zvox
includes all the necessary cables to connect an RCA component (my CD
player) and a stereo connector component (my iPod) as inputs. The Zvox
power switch, when in the standby position, will automatically turn on
when a signal is detected on either input. Likewise, the unit will
automatically turn itself off if no signal is detected for several
minutes.

I left about 18 inches of space between the Zvox and the back wall of
the room so I could get a sense of how much the subwoofer could do
without the benefit of a wall right next to it. The subwoofer seemed
happiest with the volume at the one o’clock dial setting and did not
rattle or distort while still providing some impactful bass. If the
subwoofer still does not seem to provide enough bump for your taste,
Zvox offers an external subwoofer, which can be connected in place of
the second input. As you will find out in the next section, it is
doubtful you will need the extra help in the thump department, but who
am I to say when enough is enough?

Using the provided Zvox infrared remote, I could adjust the volume up
or down with ease. Two AAA batteries are provided to juice up the
simplistic remote. The Zvox is capable of being hooked up to either the
fixed or variable outputs of most audio components. I set the Zvox
volume at about 25 percent for the CD player and had to up the volume
to about 60 percent for the iPod to be at normal listening volumes.
This percentage of volume demand went up substantially when both inputs
were connected at the same time. I experimented with the setting of the
PhaseCue knob with various types of audio sources. I found the sound to
be stretched too thin and empty sounding at the far right setting of
the PhaseCue for anything I tried playing. I felt compelled to leave it
a quarter turn from the left extreme for music listening and more
towards the center position for movie viewing.

Adding
to the allure of the Zvox is the portability of the unit. The optional
rechargeable battery power supply and PortaParty bag allow you to take
your Zvox on the road. Each of the items can be purchased for an
additional $50. The aforementioned battery can power the Zvox for up to
six hours on a single eight-hour charge. That leaves this baby in the
running for your next trip to the parents to escape the monotony of the
Kenny G Christmas album that always finds its way into the music
selection.